Aggies Volunteer to Transport Evacuees in San Antonio

By Greg Okuhara
Published: Tuesday, September 6, 2005

More than 40 Texas A&M University bus drivers took a convoy of 10 buses to San Antonio to shuttle Hurricane Katrina evacuees around the former Kelly Air Force Base this weekend.

Texas A&M University senior Audrey Bass received a call Thursday night from her supervisor looking for bus drivers willing to get behind the wheel and go directly to San Antonio.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry had requested any available buses report to the former Kelly Air Force Base to help shuttle Hurricane Katrina evacuees as they arrived from the New Orleans area. So when Texas A&M University volunteered 45 of its student drivers and 20 buses from Transportation Services, Bass said she needed little persuasion to sign up.

"As soon as they said something about hurricane evacuees I was, like, sure," the senior business marketing major said. "I wanted to help out and do what I could to help."

She was one of 25 student bus drivers from A&M's Transportation Services Department who left College Station at midnight Thursday to transport hurricane evacuees around the former Kelly Air Force Base.

"They told me I had 20 minutes to gather some things, like a change of clothes," she said. "I don't know if you know how packing goes for girls, but it never takes just 20 minutes."

Jessica Rutherford, one of the transit supervisors who accompanied the drivers, said she had no problem finding volunteers.

"Everybody really wanted to go, but we decided that we would only send 25 with the first group," she said. "We drew names to see who would go. That was the only fair way we could think of. It was amazing to see how willing [the students] were to give their time. I was speechless."

The drivers, along with administrators and University Police Department officers, took a convoy of 10 buses and arrived in San Antonio about 4 a.m. Friday. After a quick nap and breakfast provided by the American Red Cross, the drivers helped shuttle hurricane evacuees around the base.

When the group arrived in San Antonio, Rutherford said, she had to force them to try to sleep because the drivers wanted to begin working right away.

John Walker, a senior agricultural development major, was part of a second group of another 10 buses that left Saturday. He, and 19 other drivers were sent to relieve the first group. Walker said buses ran constantly through the night as C-130 cargo planes landed and unloaded the evacuees.

"For the most part, people were understandably tired, but they were grateful," he said.

"There were a few guys angry about their situation or the long waits, but mainly they were in real good spirits. There were even some guys cracking some jokes."

Although most were upbeat, Bass said it was heartbreaking listening to some describe the situation in New Orleans while she waited for the evacuees to check in.

"There were times I had to walk away from the bus so I didn't lose it in front of them," she said. "You see it on the news, but it's not really clear to you until you see and talk to these people."

http://www.theeagle.com/stories/090605/am_20050906007.php